Farming a friendship

The roots of India8217;s friendship with Israel are being nurtured in the semi-arid soil of the Deccan plateau. When the war against terror...

The roots of India8217;s friendship with Israel are being nurtured in the semi-arid soil of the Deccan plateau. When the war against terrorism has been won, when Asia can live with peace and stability from the deserts to its west to the oceans to its east and military cooperation is no longer viewed as the cornerstone of our bilateral friendship, there will still be millions of Indians grateful to Israel. They will be the farmers in the sub-continent8217;s dry drought prone districts who are learning every day the benefits of Israeli drip irrigation technology. Those who think of Israel only as a partner in fighting terrorism do little justice to its great contribution to the modern science of an ancient activity 8212; agriculture.

In the immediate future, though, it will be the war against terrorism that will occupy centre stage. While India8217;s deepening bilateral relationship will not and should not hurt our bilateral relations with any other country in the region, India can no longer be unmindful of Israel8217;s security concerns. Nor should we shy away from drawing Israel8217;s attention to the counter-productive aspects of its response to the genuine demands of the people of Palestine. It is a sign of the maturity of Indian foreign policy and the sophistication of our diplomacy that we no longer view the Israel-Arab question in black and white. An appreciation of the various shades of gray must inform our policy, as it is now doing.

The military aspects of India-Israel cooperation are important for India, but so are the business aspects of this relationship. In some areas of business we will be competitors, as in information technology, and in others we can be collaborators. An India-Israel free trade agreement is entirely conceivable given the nature of our bilateral trade flows. Given the nature of the shift in Indian thinking on Israel spanning over a decade and cutting across political parties of differing ideologies, much need not be made of the timing of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon8217;s visit. What8217;s important is that the tectonic plates have firmly shifted. India and Israel are engaged in a new strategic relationship and the campaign against jehadi terrorism has cemented this relationship. Both countries can benefit from this alliance and that is how any lasting bilateral relationship should be. It can never be a one-way street. For our part, we must continue to emphasise the importance of a negotiated settlement in West Asia since that is the only road to peace. The fact that the joint declaration issued by the two heads of government has omitted any reference to Kashmir and Palestine should also be view in a positive light. A friendship based on near term concerns cannot acquire depth. India and Israel are home to the world8217;s oldest religions. We are civilisational neighbours and have been for millennia. Our friendship must, therefore, be defined by more lasting considerations than our near term security concerns alone.